Howdy!

"William Hubbard" <billhubard@[...].com>  wrote:
>  I've downloaded Squeak3.9a-7021.zip and uncompressed the following files:
>  
>  .DS_Store                            6,148

The above is some Mac specific "droppings" :), don't know what, not
needed.

>  Squeak3.9a-7021.changes         24,048,371
>  Squeak3.9a-7021.image           18,543,740
>  
>  Now, no README, no clear install instructions from
>  http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak/5645 or
>  http://discuss.squeakfoundation.org/cgi-bin/ezmlm-browse?list=3Dv3dot9

True, because you are downloading an *alpha* image. So it is really not
meant to be downloaded by a beginner. :)
But anyway, the image (which has a .changes partner file - they *always*
travel in pairs) changes much more often than the VM so typically what
we exchange within the community is the image. The VM normally works for
almost any image. :)

>  so I've decide to ask here:

Goodie. :)
 
>  Should I assume to uncompress and copy from
>  Squeak3.8-current-win-full.zipto the
>  Squeak3.9a-7021 directory the following?
>  
>  Squeak.exe                  1,077,760
>  SqueakFFIPrims.dll             30,720
>  SqueakV3.sources           14,542,313
>  
>  I've made those assumptions,

Correct assumptions. The two first files are the VM for Win32, the FFI
is included as a dll (not sure why). The third file is a file that all
post 3.0 Squeak images need to have present - it is a snapshot of the
full source as of Squeak version 3.0 (I think 3.0?) and then Squeak uses
the .changes file which is a *fat* "diff" against this file in order to
have correct sources. It is really time to make a new snapshot because
the changes file is nowadays even bigger than the sources file :)

>  started Squeak and opened the "SqueakMap
>  Package Loader":
>  
>  "The SqueakMap master server is running another version (2.1) than the
>  client (2.0) You need to upgrade the SqueakMap package, would you like to d=
>  o
>  that now?"
>  
>  (at this point I asked myself: if it's really needed, why to ask?)

Well, I can think of a few reasons - like you don't want the image to be
changed or whatever. :) Another very good reason is that the loader can
actually still be used (the old code) but you will not be able to update
your local map from the master.

>  "Yes"
>  
>  And after some recompilings:
>  
>  "Error ocurred when updating map SystemDictionary>>logChange: Would you lik=
>  e
>  to open a debugger?"
>  (see The log for Yes)
>  ....
>  
>  "No"

I am fixing the above (well, was working on it yesterday) - I am the
maintainer of SqueakMap and it has been lagging for a few months. The
issue itself is actually a one-liner but when I started to look more
closely at what needs to be done in SM for it to be properly working for
3.9 then... well, it turned out to be quite a bit of work. But I am
aiming to get this out in a day or so.

[BIG SNIP]
>  I'm doing something wrong? There's another way to download and install pack=
>  ages?<br>
>  Comments appreciated<br>
>  Cheers<br>
>  <br>
>  bill<br>

You are not doing something wrong - the problem is that SqueakMap hasn't
been properly updated for 3.9 yet. There are other posts on this subject
with a small procedure to get around it - but... I am not taking any
responsibility for SM in 3.9 as of yet - it probably works "pretty
much".

regards, G�ran